


The Delinquents of Founder's Blessing

by Goofypants



Category: Sleepless Domain (Webcomic)
Genre: Childhood Friends, Childhood Memories, Childhood Trauma, F/F, Foul Language
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-02
Updated: 2020-10-25
Packaged: 2021-03-07 17:47:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,884
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26781643
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Goofypants/pseuds/Goofypants
Summary: This story follows Lunica Mills (Magical Girl Chain Maiden) and Lynn Doven (Magical Girl Iron Maiden) of Team Maiden, a duo of former street thieves who were sent to reformatory school for their transgressions. After having the dream they were sent to the Founder's Blessing, the conservative magical girl school run that is the polar opposite of Future's Promise. However, their upbringing and their rebellious nature means they cause frequent shenanigans at this stuck-up place.CW: Childhood trauma and and physical abuse
Kudos: 14





	1. Reformatory School Blues

Lynn sat on her bed and looked out of the barred window of her room. It's been a year since she and her friend Luna received their sentence: 6 years in the West End Girls' Reformatory School for committing numerous acts of vagrancy, countless acts of thievery and... aggravated assault with a blunt weapon. They were just fresh twelve year olds when they were caught and sentenced, and they were to remain in this institution basically until adulthood. And boy, the regime there was tough. But not that bad compared to the streets...

Lunica Mills and Lynn Doven both grew up in the poorest part of The City, known unofficially between locals as The Downs. Lunica's parents had a gambling problem and got into massive debts with the wrong people, and one day they simply disappeared and their apartment was repossessed, leaving 5 year old Lunica alone on the sidewalk. And that was when she met Lynn. Lynn was the daughter of a notorious thief and never knew her mother. Her father Darkell started to introduced her to the trade since early youth, and when she brought Lunica home with her, he did not object - he actually rejoiced. "More students for the trade" he said joyfully said back then and let Lunica live together with Lynn in her room. At first, Darkell treated both girls well, but as their training advanced and they became better at picking pockets and nicking food from market stands, his demeanor changed. 

What begun as a fun game of petty thievery turned into their daily grind about the time they were 9 years old. He forced them to run errands for him all over the town, stealing items, delivering packages and so on. Outside of that he would pay them absolutely no attention. There would be no food at home and if they wanted to eat, they had to steal it (for Darkell would not give them the money for it. Sometimes Darkell would disappear for days, and since he did not let them have keys to the home they were forced to stay outside on the street. Which was, considering what happens in this city after 11 PM a matter of life and death - either find a viable shelter that the inner barrier does cover, or stay out among the monsters. Which happened to them a few times, and they would survive only with a huge dose of luck. "Shut your pie-holes, I had to endure exactly the same treatment when I was your age." was his response when they complained, and then, to drive the point home, he would even beat them with a hickory cane until they couldn't stand. Their life became just a hellish carousel of theft, running from police, searching for shelter and random beatings. And over time it was all getting even more difficult as their wanted posters were hung all over The City. Then one day after a week without food, barely escaping the police several times and finding nothing but a rusted overturned dumpster for shelter before the inner barrier activated, Lynn finally broke down and started crying. “I'm so sorry I got you dragged into this Luni. If I knew what my father was going to do to us I would never have have invited you in back then. Maybe, just maybe... someone else would have taken you in instead. Someone nicer, someone, who would not abuse you like this...” Lunica immediately hugged her tight and shushed her. “Oh hush Lynn, honey. At least I was able to stand by your side all this time. Also...” she was interrupted by a loud bang

A short but incredibly stocky humanoid monster with what resembled boxing gloves for hands had found their hiding spot and started beating on the barrier that coated it. The barrier started cracking and both girls started crying now and hugging even tighter, when suddenly there was a loud “SSSSHING!!!” sound and the beating stopped. “I wonder why did it pay so much attention to this old dumpster here. Do you think there is somebody trapped inside?” Oh no. Magical girls. They saved them, sure, but if they found them hiding there and recognized them from the wanted posters, they would most likely march them off straight to the police station. “Eh it probably just smelled some trash in there and wanted to eat it.” A different voice responded. ”Who knows what those creeps actually eat. Besides who would be hiding in a rusty old dumpster anyways?” A whooshing noise was heard and the magic girls were gone.

“That's it, I have just had enough! As soon as we are out of here I'm going to make dad pay for what he put us through! I am getting a cane, or bat, or knife and... and...” Lunica placed her hand on Lynn's shoulder and stared deep into her eyes. “We will. He is a bad man and needs to be stopped. Whatever happens afterwards, I want to endure it with you.” Upon hearing this, Lynn nodded and smiled through her tears.

Next morning, they managed to pickpocket some random schmuck's wallet and used the money they found in there to buy lockpicks from one of the fences they delivered to before. Afterwards they had some change left so they bought bread from the single bakery that did not have their poster near the door, then headed home. Darkell taught them to pick locks and he most likely knew they would try breaking in, and though he designed the lock himself specifically to be virtually impervious to picking attempts he always confiscated their lockpicks when they were done running errands for him. And as it turned out he was right, Lynn effortlessly managed to pick the special lock anyways – he must've taught her just too well. Both girls entered the apartment and managed to use the lockpicks to even lock the door behind them. Immediately they went to kitchen to see if any food was there and sure enough, there was some cheese and sausage in the fridge. This, together with the bread they had, was the most nutritious meal they ate in quite a while. Then they went to look for his weapon stash and found a baseball bat and a night stick in a trunk under his bed. And then, they waited in front of the door for his arrival. It did not take long. As soon as they heard jingling of keys, they assumed the position behind the door. The thief stumbled into his apartment, reeking of alcohol. But before he could do anything, the two kids descended upon him like wild cats.

Everything was a blur afterwards. The police arrived. The trial. Their sentences. And now it was more than a year ago. Lynn soon fell asleep. The mattress on the bed was hard and squeaky, but sure beat sleeping in a cardboard box. And then she dreamt the strangest dream ever.

She found herself locked inside a spiked metal coffin – the terrifying iron maiden, the inner spikes just inches from her face and body. She dared not to move at first, but she felt a sense of urgency and knew she needed to get out of there. Then as if on a command, the Iron Maiden started melting. She looked up and saw a giant drop of molten metal about to drip down on her head. Closing her eyes, she braced for the burning impact, but it never came. Instead, the drop felt just lukewarm on her forehead. When she opened her eyes, the maiden was gone and her pajamas had turned into a puffy white bomber jacket with black furry collar, and a black shirt and white pencil skirt underneath. White leather knee-high platform boots adorned her feet, with what little skin showing between them and the skirt covered in black fishnet stockings. And there were spikes, lots of spikes. Black spiked pads on her shoulders, spiked white leather gloves on her hands, and spiked metal toecaps on her boots. “Well well, look at you.” a voice echoed in her head. Before her stood a shimmering woman in white dress, her hair and skin as if made of white gold. “It appears that your costume represents your life on the street, and the suffering you had to endure. Now then, I will understand if you resent the city for ignoring your pleas, but I still hope you will use your powers for good...” The dream faded then and Lynn awoke in cold sweat. She sat back up and saw her reflection in a mirror. Her hair, previously long curly and dark brown, was now snow white and short in the back - practically a Chelsea cut, Her formerly brown eyes were completely white too, with just thin black circles separated her irises from her eyewhites.

Suddenly she heard a soft tapping on metal. It was Lunica, communicating with her through the heater pipe with Morse code. Both girls were kept on separate floors, but Lunica was directly above Lynn, and since Darkell taught them both Morse code, they used tapping on the pipe to communicate And right now, Lunica was asking her if she was awake. Lynn jumped up and scrambled towards the pipe to tap out her answer. “Yes I am Luni, I just... I just had the dream!” The pipe went silent for a few seconds and then Lunica tapped back. “Yeah, me too Lynnie. You know what that means right?” Lynn knew full well what it meant. “Yeah, we're outta here!”


	2. The Gilded Cage

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Note: Lynn's costume was drastically changed compared to what she was wearing originally. See chapter one for the changes,

"So, what was your dream like?" Lynn asked Lunica as they headed outside with the other girls to the yard for a headcount and morning exercise.

"Well I was... surrounded by nothing but empty white void, and bound by chains. They were wrapping around me, constricting like snakes. But then when I tried to get out of them they melted and I... absorbed them or something. There was more I think, but I cannot remember." Lunica replied and they pushed through the door leading outside. It was very early in the morning, still dark, and freezing. Her eyes, formerly bright blue, were now completely black, like two holes into the void. Her blonde hair also turned black, and was shoulder length, with perfectly straight bangs over her eyebrows.

"Mine was the same, but I was locked in an iron maiden instead. Speaking of which, I think I will take that as my title... Magical Girl Iron Maiden. Sounds cool no?" They now stood in line with the other girls in the courtyard and the teachers started the headcount.

"Cool, yeah! Hmm... I guess I will be Chain Maiden then. I can't really think of anything chain-related anyways. Also I want to be in team with you, you know. So we could be... Team Maiden!" Lunica mused, then breathed into her palms to warm them up.

"I'm not so sure about that team name Luni..."

"Hey you two over there, be quiet!" shouted their teacher as she got close to them and could hear them talking. "I swear to Founder you two are going to get potato peeling duty at the kitchen aga... oh my. Well, looks like our Dear Founder works in mysterious ways." she glanced over at their new eyes and hair and then waved at a couple of guards. "Take those two to the headmistress' office, right now!" As the guards were leading them away, the teacher scoffed. "Them. Out of all the girls here. Oh well, at least it means less trouble for us."

They waited in the office for an hour until the headmistress showed up. She was in a good mood, wearing her finest cream velvet suit and skirt, and matching low heel shoes. Her dirty blonde hair in tidy tight bun, she just started to sip from her large cup of black coffee, when her eyes landed on the two girls waiting in her office. She immediately began choking on her hot beverage and managed to spill it all over her suit.

"You two! Out of all off the delinquents we are trying to mold into functional human beings here!" she started shouting as soon as she caught her breath again. "Mills and Doven, the most annoying, pain-in-the-back brats, to ever ''grace'' the halls of this institution with your constant pranks, shenanigans and monkeyshines? YOU, the absolutely irredeemable rascals, become magical girls?! How the hell is that possible?" she blurted out at them, not even minding that her precious luxury suit got ruined by half a pint of of one hundred percent Arabica.

"Whoa, nice new suit Mrs. Fletcher!" Lunica commented with a large sly grin, which made the headmistress finally notice the state of her wardrobe, and start to desperately try to wipe it down with a handkerchief. "The brown stains match really well with that praline color..."

"Whyyy I oughta... argh! I would give you bathroom cleaning duty for today, but I need to get you two out of here as quick as possible. For the law states that all magical girls who appear in our school are to be immediately transferred to Founder's Blessing. So from now on you are going to be their problem." The two girls could barely hide their disappointment upon hearing this. "What? You thought you would get to go to Future's promise and get a manager and live like some sort of celebrities? Ha! Tough luck ladies. ESTEL!" she cried out and her assistant immediately popped in.

"You rang, m'am?"

"Estel, prepare the paperwork for the transfer of Ms. Mills and Ms. Doven to Founder's Blessing, pronto. I am going to change my clothes now." 

******

Later, in front of the reformatory's gate..

“...and make sure you keep an eye on them as they are always up to no good!” the headmistress told the three emissaries from Founder's Blessing who came to pick up Lunica and Lynn. Th emissaries wore anthracite robes with a large golden emblem of the Church of The Founder on their chest. All of them had their hoods up so you couldn't really see their faces. Behind them was parked a large luxurious carriage in the colors of ivory and gold. It was drawn by a quartet of incredibly well-groomed palomino horses. Lynn and Lunica were pretty amazed by them, since they never saw a horse outside the pictures in biology books.

“Nonsense Mrs. Fletcher.” One of the emissaries shook his head. “They were blessed by Founder, and Founder always chooses right. I am certain they will make great holy warriors.”

“Well if you think so, enjoy your new crusaders or whatever. Now off you go.”

“Wait Mrs. Fletcher can we at least give you a farewell hug?” Lynn cooed in her cutest voice and made huge eyes at the headmistress. You could swear that those eyes were literally sparkling in the cold morning sun. Lunica immediately joined her.

“Yes pleaaaase, Mrs. Fletcher we are going to miss you soooo much, you were so strict to us but you were the closest woman to a mother we've had! We were here for but a year, yet we feel like it's been ages! We are going to miss you!”

The headmistress felt her resolve weaken under the barrage of moe from the eyes of these two overgrown kittens and sighed. “Oh I'll be... alright then you rascals. C'mere.”

They both gave hear a big hearty hug and then entered the carriage. One of the emissaries unfolded a small set of stairs from the bottom of the carriage and held the door open for them. After they sat inside, he folded the stair back up and closed the door. Then he took the girls' bags and climbed with them on the back of the carriage. The other two sat in the front and one of grabbed the reins them clicked his tongue, making the horses move. The girls leaned from windows on either side and waved at the headmistress who reluctantly waved back... and suddenly started scratching herself behind the collar, swearing profusely.

“Hey Lynnie, did you by any chance... toss some grounded rose hips behind her collar as we hugged her?” Lunica asked as they sat back in and pulled up the windows.

Lynn grinned from ear to ear. “Oh yeah, I was saving a little packet for a special occasion. And I just had to give our dear headmistress a farewell gift.”

Both of them giggled the entire way to Founder's Blessing.

******

“Welcome, welcome dear blessed children! We were expecting you! It is always a great honor to meet new holy warriors chosen by our Founder. I will show you to your dorm rooms right away!” They were welcomed by an incredibly cheery young woman in white robe. “My name is Cynthia and I am an assistant teacher here at our wonderful school and I will be your guide for today. We will settle you in your rooms and get you your uniforms that you will be required to wear all the time...” Both girls immediately rolled their eyes but she did not notice and continued. “afterwards you will be able to have breakfast in the cantina, then you will meet with our Head Battle Instructor at the training field who will analyze your powers and help you to learn how to use them, afterwards there will be a lunch ceremony in your honor, later you will join the other girls and all our teachers for an afternoon prayer to Founder, meet with envoys from C.D.D. And M.G.S.I. To get registered, a meeting with the dean who will explain you the rules in depth, then dinner and the prayer in the evening before patrol, but you will not be going on evening patrols for about two weeks until you complete your training. You will however, start attending classes tomorrow already.”

Lunica and Lynn were both stunned by the sheer cadence of words coming from her mouth and whispered to each other that “She's completely batshit crazy.” When she showed them their dorm rooms, to their huge disappointment they had separate rooms. Both were rather small, though incredibly cozy, with red carpets, mahogany furniture, canopy beds with thick soft mattresses and each with it's own small but beautiful cream-tiled bathroom, with golden sinks and bath tubs. All was lit by small crystal sconces. Definitely a huge upgrade compared to their rooms at the West End Girls' Reformatory, which were basically cells, with one bathroom per floor and common showers on ground floor that smelled kinda funny. 

The uniforms they received were all kinds of fancy – ivory blazer with same color shirt underneath, a knee-length gold-black tartan skirt, black pantyhose and white leather Mary Janes. They had breakfast just with Cynthia since the other girls already had their before, but it was still an amazing experience to them. It was just eggs and bacon, but they had not eaten eggs since they were 6, and bacon was something they never even had before. But the truly interesting part of the day was about to come – testing out their powers for a first time.

On the training grounds, they were welcomed by Ms. Grizzled, the Head Battle Instructor. She was an older lady with an eye patch and countless battle scars, and very brave and proud posture. Cynthia had told them before that when she was a holy warrior (meaning when she was a magical girl) she kept her powers for a record amount of years (Since eleven until twenty – a whole nine years which was the longest time in history) and had the most confirmed cleansings (which was a Founderist term for monsters killed). She had the same white robe as Cynthia, but also wore a red stole around her neck, signifying her seniority.

“Welcome my daughters.” Her voices was rough like sandpaper, and just her presence evoked feelings of respect in both Lunica and Lynn, which was something unheard of. ”As Cynthia probably already told you, I am Ms. Grizzled. And you two... I already like you, blessed ones. I sense you are powerful... you both emit ripples of magic power even while not transformed. For years I have not sensed such a strong aura of power. I cannot wait to see you in action. You, with the mane black as void...” she pointed at Lunica. “You will go first. What is your name, child?”

“Lunica Mills, madam.” This was the first time ever that Lunica addressed anyone so formally without even a slightest hint of sarcasm.

“Very well Lunica, you may transform now. It is as easy as just thinking about it. Now show me your Founder-given power in full!”

Black chains started appearing out of nowhere, slithering like snakes and wrapping themselves around Lunica's body until you could not see her anymore. Suddenly they exploded into a cloud of black smoke and when it dissipated, she stood her in her full magical girl form. Lynn immediately thought that this was the coolest thing she witnessed in her life. Lunica had a rockabilly pencil dress that was all black except on the chest, where it had black polka dots on white background. Then there was a black perfecto leather jacket over it, adorned with multiple chains. There were chains also on the hem of her skirt, and a large thick one around her waist. Her shoes were heavy leather platform boots, same as Lynn's except they were black, and she also had fishnets wrapping what little was visible of her legs, but hers were white.

“Well lookit you! You look like you came here to kick ass left and right and take names!” Ms. Grizzled exclaimed, completely ignoring Cynthia's comments aboout using foul language in front of the students. ”Founder was very generous to you. Now, let's test see what you can do. Look at those targets over there.” She pointed at a handful of monster effigies constructed out of wood scraps and junk in the middle of the training field. “Those crude things are what we use as training dummies here. No pint in putting effort int their looks, besides they look enough like the real deal as is. So! Try concentrating on the rightmost one. Imagine yourself attacking it, destroying it. Smiting it with the righteous wrath of our beloved Founder!”

Lunica glared at the hideous dummy and outstretched her arms. From whithin her jacket's sleeves, black chains crawled out and shot forward at it, piercing it with such force that it's wooden body basically exploded into splinters. 

“Excellent! I am truly impressed, child. With those chains you can pierce, choke, crush and toss around the abominations. And you will get the opportunity to try this all out. But first I would like to see what your friend here can do...” she turned to Lynn. “And what is your name!”

“My name is Lynn Doven Ms. Grizzled.“

“Very well Lynn, you too may transform now.“

Lunica was now watching with interest as she did not see Lynn transform yet either. And boy was it some sight. A pure white iron maiden materialized around her. Then after a few seconds, it slowly opened, releasing huge clouds of white smoke. When the smoke faded away the iron maiden was gone, only Lynn, now in her costume, remained.

“Looks like you two are thematic, and your theme seems to be very punk. You remind me of myself when I was younger, hah! Now, you destroy the leftmost dummy. Remember what I told Lunica? Good, go ahead.”

Lynn focused, and stretched her arms forwards. With a bright flash, she fired a barrage of large metal spikes at the monster effigy, effectively piercing it.

“Excellent! You will be able to turn the abominations into pincushions, and impale them as well. You two are the most promising students I had in quite a while... now let's continue shall we? Lunica you're up next.”

The rest of the day dragged on. The lunch was, in Lunica's words, “A huge steaming pile of cringe.”  
The dean just gloated about them joining Founder's Blessing, praised Founder, denounced Future's Promise and claimed Founder's Blessing students cleansed way more abominations, then praised the Founder, then reminded them all of their sacred duty and praised Founder again. The afternoon prayer that followed lunch was those last two parts over again.... about three times. When the envoys from C.D.D. And M.G.S.I. Arrived, Lynn changed her mind about the team name and they agreed to register as Team Maiden, Lynn as Iron Maiden and Lunica as Chain Maiden.  
“If we went to Future's Promise I would definitely object, and come up with a different team name, but seeing how those zealots think I believe we would attract no unwanted heat with this team name around here....” she whispered into Lunica's ear as they followed Cynthia to the dean's office Lunica agreed.

The dean welcomed them, introducing herself as Mrs. Austerus, and after some more Founder-praising began reading them all the rules from the rulebook. And boy was it a thick rulebook right there. Uniforms were required to be worn at all times on school grounds, except during PE. Rude language was punishable offense. So was running late for class, returning late from patrol, public displays of affection and many other things. Girls may not enter each other's dorm rooms - only one girl in each room at a time allowed. And no pets in rooms of course. And then came the worst one... students may not leave school grounds except when going for patrol, or with a parent for home visit on weekends but must return for evening prayer and patrol (at least there were no classes on weekends ). Lunica and Lynn soon realized that all the luxuries this school offered were just a form of a gilded cage, and that they were prisoners again, just pampered ones. This was further reinforced when the dean reached the part about punishments, and how teachers were authorized to use physical punishment if deemed necessary...

Dinner was largely uneventful, some girls sat with them and introduced themselves but were not up for much chat. At least Cynthia left them alone, finally – they could swear her constant yapping was making their ears ring. Lynn even commented that “Ten more minutes and she would have given us permanent tinnitus”. The evening prayer afterwards was slightly different from the afternoon one, more focused on the heroism and sacrifice of Founder's holy warriors. But all that our two girls could think of was how they were basically trapped here, how this was all West End Girls' Reformatory all over again, but with better rooms and food. As soon as the prayer ended and other girls headed to make preparations for the night, Lunica and Lynn headed for the dorms. Lunica entered her room and Lynn also snuck in, rules be damned. Besides nobody else was around at the time. And, after all, breaking rules was their specialty. It is what made them infamous among teachers at the reformatory and revered by the other girls there. They were chatting about their day and making plans on how to liven up their stay, when somebody banged on their door. Lunica went to open...

There was a tall older girl on their doorstep, along with two other girls behind her. She wore her school uniform but it broke almost all of the dress code rules – the skirt was shortened over knees, with no pantyhose underneath, sleeves on the blazer were cut off so it became a vest, and she wore a black backwards baseball cap... decorated with a golden prefect badge in the shape of a kite. Her hair was dark purple and reached all the way down to her hips. The two girls behind her were dressed completely to code tough, also wore prefect badges (but on the breast instead) and had shoulder length red and blue hair, respectively, with matching eye color. The tall girl, however had no irises (or they were completely white), just tiny black pupils in the middle of completely white eyes. And those tiny dots were staring Lunica and Lynn down with a piercing glare.

“Well well well, rookies..” she started. Her voice was deep, and rather rough. “Barely your first day here and you are already breaking the rules: two girls in same dorm room, tsk tsk tsk. As the head prefect, it is my duty to report you... but I will let it slide this time.” Her lips spread into a smug, incredibly wide grin. “For I have come to explain a few more... unofficial rules to you two newbs.”


	3. The Moon Stompers

The head prefect cracked her knuckles and stared Lynn and Lunica down. They were unfazed by this as they were actually expecting a strict boarding school like Founder's Blessing to have bullies, and having encountered all sorts of horrible types during their year at West End Girls' Reformatory, they knew exactly how to handle them. 

"So you two better listen up because we're going on patrol soon and I ain't gonna explain myself twice, understood?" she growled at them.

"Yes." Both girls replied in a monotone voice.

"Good. So, my name is Gee and I am the head prefect. For you students, my word is law - whatever it is, if I ask you to hand over your lunch, do my laundry... you do it without hesitation, or you will face consequences. Is that clear?"

"Yes."

"You two learn quickly. Now, these two girls behind me are Flavia and Micah, and they answer directly to me. So any order they give you comes from me. They serve as my eyes, my ears, my mouth... and even my fists when I am not around. So you better do as they say under any circumstance!

"Yes."

"...are you two mocking me?"

"No."

"Oh really? Because it sure sounds that way, I do not like the tone of your voice... so what do you say?"

"Yes."

"Is that a yes as in you are not mocking me, or yes as in yes you are mocking me?"

"No."

"Why you little... okay screw that, maybe the two of you are just dense." She tossed a large gym bag on the floor and poked Lunica in the shoulder. "I want you two to get your butts down to the laundry room and wash and dry my gym uniform for me. I will come back for it straight from patrol, and I better find you two waiting with my clean uniform in front of room 7A on the top floor. Or else."

The trio of prefects stormed off, not even bothering to close the door behind them. Lunica slowly closed it and turned her sight towards Lynn. "Welp, time to get to work then." Lynn replied with a mischievous smile and went to grab something from her room.

******

By the time clock struck 2 in the morning, they were already waiting in front of Lilla's room with the uniform done and neatly folded in the bag. Gee showed up twenty minutes later, this time without her 'handmaidens'.

"Ah, so you did as I ordered. Let me see..." She yanked the bag from Lynn's hands and opened it to check out the contents. Upon witnessing the fresh smelling clean uniform, she appeared pleased. "Looks like we are going to get along just fine. If you keep this up, that is. Now piss off, I am going to sleep, I'm tired from fighting monsters all night... unlike someone."

Lunica and Lynn absolved the exchange with the same expressionless stoicism as before and headed down to their rooms. There were many sounds of door opening and closing, and lot of running as other Magical Girls returned from patrol and entered their dorms. Through the noise, Lynn whispered to Lunica's ear: "I really wanted to pour some rosehip powder in those clothes you know."

“Yeah but she would immediately have realized who did it.” Lunica whispered back as a turquoise-haired girl rushed past them. ”After all, we are the ones who touched those clothes last. We do not want to provoke her until after we've gained footing here, remember it is just our first day and she is the head prefect, an authority. She could get us into trouble prematurely.”

Suddenly they heard a muffled scream of anger coming down the staircase from the top floor.

"Besides, we broke into her room and sprinkled all we had left it in her pajamas."

******

“Praised be Founder, for this magnificent morning we were blessed with!” were the first words Lynn and Lunica heard after they trudged into classroom after breakfast and took their seats. The teacher in their first class was a rust-haired middle-aged woman, incredibly chipper, while they did not exactly sleep much last nigh, the reason being that they realized their beds were from other sides of the same wall, so naturally they kept tapping out Morse code messages to each other for most of the night. At least they only had to get up at around 10am in order to get ready for class – if they pulled a night like this back at the Reformatory, they'd be zombified for most of the day due to the early morning headcount and exercise. Another benefit was that there were jugs of fresh hot and real coffee and actual real leaf tea on the breakfast tables, a luxury they could only dream of before. The chipper teacher introduced them to the class, and also introduced herself as Mrs. Netzteil, then began her lecture.

 _“Well at least this class appears to be rather interesting.“_ Lunica softly tapped out with her pen. They were sitting next to each other so this form of communication was perfectly possible without disturbing the class unnecessarily. Lynn nodded.

This class was entirely about the City's layout and specifications of various areas in it. The current focus were staircases and how to best use them for advantage in combat. Mrs. Netzteil was very thorough in describing each basic type of staircase design and then named and described specific ones (including one staircase that would many years later become famous for a reason). To a normal person this would seem boring, but to Magical Girls looking for every little edge over the monsters it was incredibly interesting. Our two heroines, for instance, knew the parts of the town where Darkell used to send them to 'operate' in like the back of their hands, but never thought about the staircases they used to run or jump over in this way, so they made lots of notes.

Unfortunately that was also the only interesting class of that day (except combat training with Ms. Grizzled). Next up was History, boring as hell and presented by an elderly man who appeared to be a monk, who described everything in such a monotone voice it threatened to put them to sleep. But he seemed to ignore what was happening amongst the students and there was a lot of whispering and note-passing and even snacking going on, and a classmate with icy blue hair told them that he always slept during tests so everybody just copied from their books. Well at least something positive about this snorefest.

Lunch was delicious (roast duck and potatoes – they did not even know what duck was until now) but mostly uneventful... until Gee waltzed by with her henchwomen and racketeered dessert off a girl who sat next to them (the dessert for the day were two cupcakes with lots of icing, sprinkles and a cherry on top). Once the caitiff trio of prefects left, they each gave her of their cupcakes as replacement.

“Umm thanks you didn't have to... oh, you two are new here, yes? I know Gee always 'introduces' herself to newbies on their first day already so I know you must be familiar with her. But I warn you not to mess with her and do as she asks. From her position of head prefect she can cause you heaps of trouble. Now, there is no way to get expelled - so she cannot get you that, but she can make your life here a living hell. ” She went on to explain how Gee gets away with everything by being the dean's niece and the terrible things she did to students who dared opposing her Then she described the black market with various snacks, comic books and other illicit items that flourishes at the school and how Gee currently controls most of it. 

One thing Lunica and Lynn knew immediately – they wanted in on the black market. But with Gee being in control, and them having no access to the outside, this was going to be challenging. But they had different weapons in their arsenal. 

“...so yeah that's few of the basics of how it works around here. But lunch is almost over now, I can tell you more some other time if you'd like? My name is Pila.” Her dark golden hair matched with her dark skin that had almost like a metallic shimmer to it, and so did her bright golden eyes.

“My name is Lynn and this is Lunica. We'll be seeing you around.”

******

The afternoon prayer was a grand tour of boredom, but the class afterwards delighted Lunica while causing Lynn absolute dread: Math. While both girls were very alike in many things, this was not one of them. Back at the Reformatory, Lynn sucked at math big time, and could never get anything right no matter how much tutoring Lunica gave her. She was, in contrast, an absolute natural at this stuff. She was in fact so good at it, she spent most of math classes dozing off or goofing around while Lynn would stare at the blackboard with bulging eyes and an open mouth and attempt to understand at least a fracture of the petroglyphs written there. Luckily, Lunica promised her to provide the answers at tests via the usual Morse. 

But then, at last came Combat Training with Ms. Grizzled. That was basically the only class they looked forward to, as it was one of the rare moments they were allowed to transform and fight, seeing as they were not allowed to officially fight yet. This time there were other girls too, practicing moves on dummies and targets or running obstacle courses. Ms. Grizzle was joined by several other instructors, also obviously former Magical Girls, who oversaw the training, but Grizzle personally attended to Team Maiden.

“Well hello again my daughters...” she started, then took a good look around. After seeing all the other instructors were far away and busy, she sighed in relief. “Urgh finally I can drop this stupid ass act and talk normally. I can see you two are tired of all this constant 'Founder be praised and all that jazz'. Yesterday that nosebleed Cynthia was around and if I did not keep that shit up, she would tell on me to the dean, and then I would have to listen to her bitching all night. She was already mad enough when that yappy little narc whined to her that I said 'ass' in front of you two.” If Lynn and Lunica loved her before, now they absolutely adored her. “Founder wants us to fight and that is what we will do, nowhere did Founder ask us to speak like high grade dorks. So... let's get to work on the basics of your defense today.” 

“What's that for?” Lynn asked as the head instructor produced a quarterstaff that had its ends wrapped in thick foam. As a response she got a bonk on the head with the foam-wrapped end.

“A simple exercise in defense. I will swing this thing at you and you will have to dodge, block or parry. Get transformed now.”

They could barely even finish their transformation before Ms. Grizzled cam swinging at them. Lunica got startled by the incoming bonk on her three o'clock ,so in a flash she wrapped her right arm in two layers of chains and quickly swung it against the staff, breaking it in half despite the foam padding. Ms Grizzled stared at the broken staff remains in her hands for a second, then smiled wide, revealing she had like three golden teeth.

“Oh my, looks like I underestimated you. Let me go get the heavy guns.” Ms. Grizzle disappeared into the storage room and returned with a baseball pitching machine. “You will now have to defend yourselves against this.” she said and turned it on.

Neither of the girls knew what was that thing, but when the baseballs came buzzing around their heads, they quickly realized it. Lunica kept swinging her chain-wrapped arms around, knocking baseballs out of the air until the machine ran out of ammo. Panting, she bent over with her hands on her knees, the looked to her left to see how Lynn did. She just stood there, arms crossed, she coated herself all over with a thin layer of metal and large spikes, that now had several baseballs impaled on them. But in the corner of her eye she noticed Ms. Grizzled reloading the machine. This time, instead of blocking, she got inspired by Lynn and covered herself head-to-toe in two layers of chains, creating chainmail armor of sorts, which the baseballs basically just bounced off. 

"Well damn, you two done got the basics of defense covered even quicker than I expected. Okay, we will continue next time, now go for a few laps on the track, chop-chop! You gotta keep your endurance up."

******

Lynn glared out of the window of the dormitory's common room at girls who were walking across courtyard, going out on patrol. "This sucks. It is like, the suckyest of all the suck that sucked ever." 

After combat training the dinner and evening prayer passed by real quick and now they were once again stuck doing nothing all evening. To add insult to the injury, when Gee and her thugs passed by, they all gave them a rude gesture.

"One of these days I am going to kick their asses." Lunica growled and turned back to flipping through a comic called 'Founder's Holiest Warriors'. It was about a team of devout Magical Girls, and while there were some good fight scenes, it contained near-fatal levels of the same religious mumbo jumbo they had to listen to on prayers.

"Wait, I have an idea. Let's try slipping into one of the classrooms for extracurricular activities before. In the rulebook there is only written that new students are not allowed to fight for two weeks, but there is nothing about us not being allowed to roam the school grounds." Lynn pulled out her set of lockpicks. More than a year ago, she managed to smuggle it into the reformatory and used it ever since. Like when they broke into Gee's room yesterday.

"Well, that might be because inner barrier covers everything out there, and we cannot move between buildings on the campus while it is up."

"That is why we have to go now."

Lunica glanced at the clock on the wall. "It is 9:50 P.M., so we better hurry."

They ran out of the dormitories and circled back around so that none of the girls that still remained at the main gate would notice them, even though they were all busy transforming and dashing out into the night. They reached the backdoor to the main building by the time the announcement echoed throughout the city. Lynn immediately got to work on the lock, but it was a difficult one to pick as this door was unused, and the though the lock was a very old type, the insides were covered in rust and dust. Then came the unmistakable sound of inner barrier activating (a droning whoosh-like sound and ringing glockenspiel). They were mere seconds from the barrier covering the door now.

"Eureka!" Lynn cried out, but Lunica already had her arm around her and was barging through the door. As soon as they were inside, she spinned around and kicked it closed. The barrier covered it immediately after. It was bright beige colored tonight, which was perfect because no one would see the light coming from inside.

"Next time, we are heading here sooner." 

"Aw come on Luni, since when are you like this? You always loved the thrill of balancing on the edge." Lynn ruffled her friend's hair and then took a look around. 

They were in a small alley that branched off in the middle of a long hallway that had classrooms on either side. They tried the nearest door. It was unlocked so they walked in and turned on the light. They found themselves inside a small dance hall. There were a few victorian-styled leather couches lining the walls, together with shelves upon shelves of vinyl records, one bookshelf and a large Hi-Fi stereo with turntable. There was also a large mirror on the wall to the right of the entry door.

"Huh, sweet! I just hope it is not all boring religious records." Lunica exclaimed and headed towards one of the shelves and started pulling out records on by one. "Okay so we have here... 'Founder's Daughters Gospel Songs' - urgh, boring. 'Swing Along With The Blessed Children' - that sounds boring too, and what the hell does that even mean? 'Happy Happy Pop Beats' - okay that does not sounds religious but it sounds like some sugary crap. Wait, what is this?"

She pulled out a cover that had nothing but a checkerboard and the title 'OLD WORLD SKA COLLECTION' written above it.

"Ohh I like it already, that checkerboard fits our theme." Lynn appeared behind her with a book labeled 'Basic Dance Steps For Beginners'. "I found this here, maybe we could learn a bit?"  
"Won't we just join dance class on weekend during extracurricular? They will probably teach us better than stumbling around with some book."

"Well, they will probably play us some of their boring crap to dance along to, and also I do not want to make an ass out of myself in front of the other girls by not even knowing the absolute basics. Come on, put that record in, let's get some tunes."

Lunica pulled the record out of the sleeve and placed it on the turntable. She then pressed play and the needle arm automatically placed itself on the vinyl, and after a crackle and a brief pause, the music started playing. The girls did not know it, but it was 'Lip Up Fatty' by the band Bad Manners.

"Hey this is pretty good. So..." Lunica turned to Lynn and curtsied clumsily. "Madam, may I have this dance?"

Together, they awkwardly dance-stumbled the night away. It was all incredibly doofy, but also the vinyl record had some great music on it, far better than they would expect Founder's Blessing to have in their music selection. It soon finished playing, but it was just so great they replayed it a few more times. As the announcement of barrier reactivation rang out outside they were already packing everything up, ran outside, locked the door again using picklocks, and were back at the dorms before the first girls returned. 

******

Days went by and their nightly ventures into classrooms for extracurricular also continued. On the third day they decided to check out the gym they found in the school's plan. It also had a boxing ring that intrigued them, so they took their gym bags with P.E. uniforms and snuck in during the usual time But when they entered the locker room that was part of it, they were shocked to find the door to gym opened, and lights turned on in there. Carefully they peeked in. It was Ms. Grizzled. She was on benchpress, pumping a 150kg (330lbs) barbell. Putting down the barbell after her last rep, she sat up and noticed them in the doorframe. She immediately grinned at them.

"Well well well, upholding the proud tradition of sneaking into extracurricular wing during newbie weeks, I see. Oh don't give me that look, plenty of girls before you did it, like me for example. And there were girls who did it before me. Most of us started doing it after learning we could not go to extracurricular activities during those first two weeks. Now, since you came here to the weight room tonight, I guess you would be down to some exercise, yes?" She stood up and the girls noticed her unbelievably ripped six pack protruding through her shirt.

"Umm, uh yeah..." Lynn stuttered. "We came here for the boxing ring, mainly."

"Ahhh yes, nothing bonds friendships together more than beating the shit out of each other! Sure I will give you a boxing lesson, after all I am the one who leads this class on weekends. But first grab some weights, we are going to exercise together! Three sets by ten reps, come on!"


	4. Out Come The Wolves

Their days at Founder's Blessing dragged by and nothing interesting outside of combat training classes and the occasional annoyances from Gee or her handmaidens happened. They did have some more interesting classes, like Studies on the Specifics of Abominations (but all the students just called it Monstrology) This class had not permanent teacher they were told, instead various cataloguers from C.D.D. with expertise on different types of monsters would come and teach about their findings. But otherwise it was extreme boredom, especially on the weekend, as Ms. Grizzle's words turned out to be true - they were not allowed to take extracurricular classes. At least their nocturnal break-ins into the extracurricular wing balanced it out somewhat. Ms. Grizzle was there at the weight room almost every other day and they would always join her, otherwise they would browse records or attempt to dance at the dance room. But except for this it was all bore.

"It has been almost two weeks already, they should let us fight already! After dealing with all the bullshit I am itching to give some monsters a beating!" Lunica welcomed Lynn as they both got out of their rooms on a Thursday morning.

"Well good morning to you too." Lynn replied grumpily. "You are right though. I too am getting fed up with this, well maybe we will ask a teacher today. I guess it would be on Saturday when there are no classes so they can hold a day long sermon for us or some shit."

Suddenly, a familiar voice called out to them. It was Cynthia. "Oh miss Mills! Miss Doven! Today is a special day for you two! I have arrived to give you a briefing on how it will proceed." Both girls looked at each other and took a deep breath to prepare for the barrage of words before nodding. Great! So, after breakfast you will have a special class with Mrs. Netzteil and some experts from C.D.D., who will explain the details of the patrol route you are going to be assigned. Your today's lunch will be separate from the rest of students, as several retired Holy Warriors who used to patrol the same route in the past will come to visit and you will be attending a feast and discussion with them. Some of them patrolled the same areas in the past, while others were blessed by the Founder with powers similar to yours, so they will have much valuable knowledge to impart upon you. It will take a few hours and you will not join the afternoon prayer to Founder, instead you will pray with them. Afterwards you will join a Ms. Grizzled for a special combat training class. The evening prayer afterwards will be held in your honor and Ms. Grizzled together with Mrs. Netzteil and the C.D.D. experts will take you to the starting point of your assigned route where you will scout out the area until nine. And finally, you will be going on your first patrol at ten. The dean, Ms. Grizzle, Mrs. Netzteil and C.D.D. people will be overseeing it."

"Wait, whuh... they will be out there with us? Amidst the monsters?" Lynn exclaimed with a surprise.

"Oh worry not about their safety. They will be joined by three girls who were blessed by Founder with the ability to create protective barriers. Also the head prefect and some other girls will be guarding them, and also to act as your backup."

Just awesome. Gee would be there for their first patrol. At first it soured their excitement a bit, but then they looked at each other and realized one thing. Gee acted all high and mighty because she currently held the title of strongest fighter (or as the school called it, the Mightiest Cleanser of Abominations) and if she saw just what they are capable of, and that they can threaten her title, it would surely ruffle her feathers a bit. 

"Wow this is great news, thanks for letting us know! We are really surprised because we expected to have our first patrol on weekend though, and today is Thursday."

"Normally first patrols are launched on weekends yes, but Ms. Grizzled already declared you as fully prepared on Tuesday, and seeing as this today is a work holiday, the former warriors were all available so our dean decided to arrange it all a couple days sooner. Also don't worry about missing regular classes, your teacher will prepare special notes for you. Okay I held you up enough now, please go enjoy your breakfast now!"

At the breakfast they shoveled as much sugary cereal as they could and downed like three cups of white coffee. Pila dropped by with two other girls, one of whom had silver hair and eyes, while the other had yellowish-pink.. Hi, so I learned today that our team will be keeping a barrier up for teachers for your first patrol, so I thought I introduced you to my teammates. This is Rosa and this is Shiroi, Magical Girl titles Pink Gold and White Gold, respectively. Oh, and I didn't tell you mine yet, it is Yellow Gold. So we are Team Gold, obviously.

"Nice to meet y'all!" Lunica greeted them Lynn just smiled as her mouth was full of Tri-Chocklitt Kruntsch (TM) brand cereal.

"So your powers are barriers... are they defensive only?" she asked after swallowing her delicious cereal.

"No, we do have offensive capabilities, they just ain't that strong... way below average could best describe it." Rosa replied and also poured herself a bowl of Tri-Chocklitt Kruntsch (TM). "We usually tag along with other teams, mostly those that are short on a member or two due to injury, or have, or solos and duos who have not found a team to join yet."

"Yeah but from what we heard about you two, you definitely won't be needing us to come with you on patrols." Shiroi chimed in as she also poured herself a bowl of cereal, opting for Fruitee Kruntsch (TM) instead. "We saw you two during combat training classes. No other girls who are currently active that I know of have so much raw attack power, and such incredible defense at the same time. "

"Yeah you are like walking tanks." Pila added, and noticed Maidens staring at her confusedly so she added: "Oh, um... not tanks that hold liquids. Tanks were also huge armored machines in the old world. They could move around on threads and had cannons which would fire exploding shells at stuff. I read about them in a book on old world history, there is also a model of one in the Old World Museum!"

"Oh don't mind her, she could not shut up about these things ever since read that book." Rosa chuckled.

"Okay yeah, maybe! But tanks are AWESOME, Rosa!"

******

"Hello hello, so glad that Founder graced us with your presence!" Mrs. Netzteil welcomed them, as chippers as always. The two men from C.D.D. just bowed with their right hands over their chest. "Now, I am pleased to introduce your patrol route to you. It was assigned to a team from Future's Promise before, but those girls aged out about a month ago. And since you are the first girls to gain powers since the, it was automatically assigned to you by the C.D.D." 

Both C.D.D. agents then placed a map on her desk and unrolled it, and both girls gasped when they saw what was on it..

"Oh... my. I dare say that our beloved Founder has a real sense for humor." Lynn stated.

"And an extremely cynical one at that." Lunica added.

Mrs. Netzteil gave them a confused look. There, on her desk laid the map of West End, with their highlighted route leading around the Reformatory School and through the entire Downs.

"Yeah let's say we are rather familiar with this area." Lynn added. "But we would still like to know what the experts have to tell us about it."

One of the C.D.D. guys nodded and leaned over the map. "Okay so you will be starting here, on the Caeglefeyn Square..."

******

The day was going by so fast. Maybe it was just because lots of interesting things were happening after two weeks of boredom. Team Maiden had now found themselves the lunch with former Magical Girls. Their ages ranged from around mid twenties to the oldest one who was 73 year old, who even turned out to be Ms. Grizzled's cousin. She also had a few thin scars, but nowhere the level of her bruiser cousin. Also she had the best stories and advice, for instance...

"Be wary on patrol young'uns, for there is a monster out there that they won't teach you about, because these dumb bastards at the C.D.D. refuse to believe that it exists, and that is only because it was never caught on camera. But it exists! Luckily it is very rare. But we ran into one in the Downs with my team, and oh is that thing one mean sunuvabitch. It has gravity powers, and if you get in it's range, it will use them to toss you around like a ragdoll. It seems unable to put much force behind it, but you can still bang your head real bad if you are unlucky, one of my teammates got a concussion in the fight. We only defeated it by running out of reach of it's gravity field and pummeling it with ranged attacks, and it went down like a wet sack. If you hear loud hoof stomping noises, be aware, it might be one of those scumbags. I just hope they'll never get any more powerful than that. 

"So what were your powers?" Lunica asked her while pouring herself some root beer from a jug. "Ms. Grizzled told us she had mid-range physical powers, were yours any similar?"

"No, I had a weapon. A big crossbow I could conjure various types of ammo for. I mostly used flaming bolts, but for the big guys I had explosive bolts. They did cost plenty of magic power to make though. And I liked my crossbow. A no-nonsense weapon. Just point and shoot at the knaves..."

******

The day just would not slow down. It felt as if it was all just zipping by. The prayer with the former Magical Girls was much shorter than the usual ones. Then the combat class with Ms. Grizzled, which was cool as always, felt like it was over in a flash. Only vaguely they could remember running the obstacle course that she ordered them to. Then the evening sermon, it was over before they could even realize it, which was weird because it was as boring as always, even though they themselves were also being praised in the prayers, which was oddly satisfying. Later, when they ventured outside beyond the campus walls with Ms. Grizzled, Mrs. Netzteil and the C.D.D. folks, they did not even rejoice that they saw the city for first time after a long time, as they were headed for their old stomping grounds. A place they hoped never to return to. After the unpleasant tour, they ended back at the start of the route - Caeglefeyn Square, arguably one of the nicest places in the city. Lynn noted how it was strange that such a beautiful square with a huge fountain depicting a Phoenix was located just a few blocks away from the border of the Downs. The C.D.D. agents explained to them that it was seeing gradually increasing monster activity for the past few days, therefore the chose it for their first fight. They would be observing them fight from the rooftop of the nearby building, and after clearing it from any enemies that would appear, they would be deemed capable and left to run the full patrol route. So it was basically a test. 

******

_"Attention all citizens. The time is now 9:55 P.M. Please make sure you are back inside your homes, with all your doors and windows locked."_

"Home Sweet Freaking Home, eh Lynnie?"

Team Maiden was already transformed and sat on the edge of the fountain in the middle of Caeglefeyn Square. They were reminiscing about all the times they spent there as little kids, before becoming enlisted by Darkell to do his thievery for him and getting frequently chased by police across the square before losing them in alleyways when the announcement reminded them of what is about to come. They both immediately transformed.

"Yeah, Home Sweet Freaking Home indeed. I never thought we would return here yet here we are. But screw that, we are Magical Girls now, we rule this turf! So... what do you think we will face tonight? Hope it will be something tough, I like a hard fight."

"Hah! Sure, sure, let the strong monsters come, and then I will have to deal with them after they wipe the floor with your green asses." A familiar voice rung out from behind them. It was Gee. She had her black backwards cap even when transformed, but with a purple bandanna beneath it, and wore an oversized pale violet hoodie, large dark purple baggy sweatpants (one of her pants legs was rolled up for some reason) and curiously enough, white tall sneakers. She had also boxing tape wrapped around her hands. "By Founder, your magical forms look ridiculous, but that is appropriate for losers like you. I expect to get a good laugh tonight before having to jump down and drag you out both out of mud." She flashed them a smug grin and in a huge purple flash, jumped up onto the roof of nearby six story office building, where the dean, Ms. Grizzle, Mrs. Netzteil, the C.D.D. people, Team Gold and couple other Magical Girls were congregating. Team Gold waved at them before returning to preparations.

"Bloody fashion victim." Lunica growled as Gee jumped away. "Just you wait." They waved back at Team Gold when suddenly the second announcement came.

_"The time is now 10 P.M. All citizens should be indoors, and all Magical Girls transformed."_

The Dome on the horizon that glowed pearly platinum now burst into inky blue dark that spread across the entire city, dying the buildings the same color, the windows became matte black, as if there was nothing behind them. The city fell into darkness, even street lights got snuffed out by the matte blue darkness of the barrier, and it was also an overcast night. Only glowing thing within sight was the barrier on the nearby roof created by Team Gold, which flashed in their respective golden colors. Lunica punched into her palm and Lynn stretched herself.

Scanning around the perimeter, she noticed some movement not far off. "Well we got two groups of baddies" she said after noticing several sets of red glowing eyes and shifting silhouettes in the darkness. "One on our one o'clock, and other on our three. Which one do you..." She turned to Lunica but she was not there anymore. She dashed forward and pounced the first group with the ferocity of a starving wolf, and was in the process of smashing them with her chains. "Typical." Lynn giggled and charged the other group. They ran against her and she outstretched her arms, showering them with a barrage of spikes. 

These things looked like alligators, but had extremely long snouts with maws full of long dagger-like teeth, and three pairs of stubby legs. Their scaly skins were dark red with purple belly, claws and inside of their mouths. Gatormaws was the name given to them by Magical Girls. They had a nasty bite, a quick charge and thick armored skin, but that was no problem for Team Maiden. When three more groups appeared, Chain Maiden summoned several chains that slithered towards two groups and tied all them all together into a large bundle. Then she rose her arms, making the chains lift the bundled monsters high up into the air, before whipping her arms downwards which threw the bundle against the ground, smashing all the Gatormaws on the pavement. Meanwhile Lynn jumped up in the air and fired large metal stakes at the other group's snouts, nailing them shut to the ground and then just walking around them a punching each one with a spiked fist until they dissipated. More groups of Gatormaws swarmed them but they got all dispatched in a similar manner.

"Oi, isn't there usually a boss monster hanging around when such large swarms appear? That was what they told us right...." Lunica growled and scanned the surroundings with her chains swinging around like some sort of creepy tendrils. But there were no more red eyes and growling around, and this did not please her. "OI! WHERE IS OUR BOSS MONSTER! I WANT A BIG FIGHT!" She shouted towards the glowing bubble up on the building, but then she noticed the dean and others were looking the other way and looked worried. Only Gee turned towards Team Maiden with the smuggest expression ever.

"You want boss monster? You gonna get it, it is headed your way. But boy, are you two done for. When it shows up and you are done pissing yourselves, just knell down, raise hands to the sky and scream 'Gee please come save our butts!' and I will come show you how it is done!"

"Yeah fuck you too." Lynn mumbled but then both she and Lunica noticed some light coming from behind the office building. It was orange, and not from Team Gold's barrier. Then they saw it. It was a giant Gatormaw. It was huge, had one extra pair of legs, a third eye, and large spines on its back that were burning with bright orange fire. The fire was also burning in its eyes and within its maw.

Up in the golden barrier, the dean was very distressed. "We have to get Gee and the other girls down there to help them immediately! That is a Lavalisk, a legendary abomination! It's been years since it last appeared, and it is incredibly powerful! No way can just a duo of rookies defeat one, especially on their first day! Founder's mercy, even with the other girls helping them it's going to be a tough fight!" She exclaimed and attempted to get Gee's attention, but Ms. Grizzled stopped her.

"Have a little faith Mrs. Austerus. These two are more than capable of cleansing even powerful abominations like this one." She explained calmly as she glared at the dean with her one good eye. "You have my word that they will handle it, but should it appear that they are being overpowered, we will send the others." The dean blinked at her doubtfully and she sighed. "Okay... should they fail at cleansing the Lavalisk alone, I will give you that bottle of 30 year old brandy I have in my office."

"Wow okay now you are betting a lot on them. Very well, let's see how they'll fare, but I am signaling the others to help them at first sign of trouble."

Down on the ground, the Lavalisk had already reached the edge of the square. It glared at the two girls with its three flaming eyes and began breathing in. Lunica realized what was going on, grabbed Lynn by the waist and launched the both out of the way by using her chains as leaf springs. Moments later, there was a large puddle of burning oily spit where they stood before.

"Well damn, a monster with ranged attack! But it appears to be slow and lumbering, so we should still have the edge over it..." Lynn shouted as the monster was breathing in again, and Lunica launched them out of the way of it's burning spit with her chains, still holding onto her friend for dear life.

"Sure thing, I just need to shut that big mouth with my chains." Lunica shouted back as they landed on the opposite end of the square. That appeared to be out of Lavalisk's range as it started slowly lumbering towards them. "You need to circle around it, making sure it does not see you. When I muzzle it, run out and nail that bastard with all you got, but keep your distance, it might be full of that burning goop. Go now, I will keep it busy."

Lynn nodded and disappeared into the dark. Meanwhile, Lunica charged towards the Lavalisk, her chains trailing behind. It noticed her and began charging its spit attack again but she chain-launched herself out of harm's way again . The monster turned its head her way and began breathing in again, but her chains were already near its snout by then and wrapped it tightly shut in a split second before it spat. Surprised, it began thrashing about, with liquid flames dripping from its nostrils, and its entire body began rapidly bloating to the point looked like flaming scaly balloon with eight legs. And that was when Lynn jumped out of the shadows to the left.

"Eat this you burning shitstain!" she screamed and launched a barrage of large metal stakes at the bloated belly of the beast. Thy just kept getting stuck in the scaly lizard skin it until it looked like a pincushion, but then one stake managed to penetrate fully and the Lavalisk was vaporized in a huge fiery explosion that knocked Team Maiden over. But other than a little bit singed eyebrows and hair, they were completely fine. 

Rising back to their feet quickly, they approached the office building, looking up at the roof while burning shreds of a giant lizard monster dissipated around them. Gee was shocked and furious, Ms. Grizzled was laughing heartily and clapping, the dean, Mrs. Netzteil and C.D.D. agents were staring with their mouths agape while Team Gold and the other backup girls were cheering. Lynn and Lunica looked at each other with a satisfied smile, then rose both their hands up in a devil's horn gesture and victoriously screamed in unison.

"TEAM MAIDEN ROCKS, YEAH!!!"


End file.
